The potential buyer isn’t losing interest. MAT Limited Partnership is still prepared to pay “more than double” the $3.25 million asking price for the land and will cover the expense of the environmental cleaning.
Activists in McKinley Park are urging the state to delay the sale so that the neighborhood can have a say in the matter, but it is MAT’s involvement that has angered them.
Since Michael Tadin Jr. founded MAT Asphalt in McKinley Park in 2017, Neighbors for Environmental Justice members have been in conflict with MAT and Tadin. The group has frequently voiced complaints about the plant’s odors, truck traffic, and air pollution.
“It is incredible that the state would sell the owner more property after allowing a polluter in the center of our community,” stated Neighbors for Environmental Justice in a statement.
Residents would object to being left out of conversations regarding the future of the Damen Silos site, the group claimed, even if Tadin weren’t the potential buyer.
“It is intolerable that the state of Illinois is once again putting together plans for McKinley Park without consulting the locals, “claimed the organization. “We disagree with the idea that the city, the state, or wealthy businesspeople can decide how to develop McKinley Park without consulting the local populace. We object to this procedure, and we urge the state to postpone its intention to complete this transaction. The community needs to be represented at the table if the state wants to sell this property.
Tadin, for his part, has always disputed the claim that MAT Asphalt is a significant polluter in McKinley Park.
He intends to transform the Damen Silos property into MAT’s “state-of-the-art headquarters.” According to him, the purchase of the land reflects large investments in the neighborhood’s and the company’s long-term futures.
Tadin stated that his current goal is to complete the property purchase by the end of the year. He assured that MAT would “meet and surpass the regulatory criteria involved” and promised that specifics on the proposed headquarters would be addressed “at the proper moments.”
Whatever plan MAT presents is expected to come under criticism from conservationists and preservationists in addition to Neighbors for Environmental Justice.